Foodies turn to social media to discover new recipes and see what their favorite content creators are cooking up. Instacart joined the conversation with its social-forward “Cart Classics” campaign, kicking it off with an intimate dinner experience for creators and VIP guests on Aug. 6 at Chain House in L.A.
The brand partnered with Taiwanese American chef Frankie Gaw to reimagine American comfort dishes into a five-course dinner menu served inside a pop-up grocery aisle stocked with products from Instacart’s CPG partner brands. The meals were delivered to the table by grocery carts, naturally, and attendees could instantly shop the original recipes’ ingredients on Instacart.
Each course was centered on a CPG brand that was also on display at the event, including Snack Aisle Tacos made with Siete tortilla chips, Pantry Pull Ramen made with Maruchan ramen noodles, Grab & Go Guava Chicken & Waffles made with Belgian Boys waffles, Market Mac ’n Cheese with a Tabasco kick, and Out of the Box Birthday Cake.
“The concept was how do we bring nostalgic comfort foods together with this modern take? So we started working through the recipes with chef Frankie, thinking about unexpected ingredients and a mix of partners that usually play in that classic nostalgic space,” says Jamie Baron, director and head of Instacart Ads Studio. “We love working with emerging brands, so how do we think about working them into these bigger moments? And then we also let the brands tell us what they’re interested in.”
In addition to the nostalgic lineup of dishes, served in custom-designed cartons, Instacart added familiar touches to take attendees back, like packs of crayons and interactive paper menus with a cart-shaped crossword, reminiscent of a restaurant’s kids’ menu.
And to reinforce the grocery aisle setting, the table was decorated with flowers in a San Marzano tomatoes can and “Cart Classics”-branded checkout lane belt dividers. “The grocery store is a lot more aesthetic than you’d think,” Baron says.
The event offered four seating times to space out the evening and make sure groups had enough time to move through each room and capture content, from the entrance photo op of an oversized Instacart bag and welcome drinks, to a photo gallery hall showcasing the brand’s CPG partners and fun facts, to dessert in the courtyard.
Instacart invited influencers with whom the brand has established relationships and tapped into Chain’s network of creators, VIPs and consumers who are passionate about the food space. Baron says that when the invite was released, it sold out in six minutes.
“We recognize that doing an event with 70 to 100 people, only so many attendees can have that experience. We chose the content creators who were there so that as many people as possible could experience it virtually,” she says. “We’ll also be featuring the recipes across the Instacart app over the next couple of weeks and developing content about how the recipes were developed.”
Attendees came away with an Instacart bag full of the recipes’ ingredients from its CPG partners so they could recreate them at home, as well as share them with their followers.
“We’re definitely not done learning yet,” Baron says. “This is a newer space for us, and we want to create opportunities, especially where our CPG partners can join us, to tell these authentic stories and bring inspiration and commerce together. Overall, so far, we’ve seen this as a smashing success.”
Photos: Courtesy of Instacart
